Getting first shop built, lessons learned?

[Frank]

I am looking to have at shop built soon and it can't hurt to ask from those that have been there.

Trying to decide on one big door or 3 different bays. I prefer the roll up doors.

Might eventually add a 2 post lift, but I dont know where I want it, but I know not smack in the middle.

I will store possible as many as 4 project vehicles. Room for closed off shop and small office.

How is electricity ran to this? 50' feet from the house or the pole is directly behind it. Does it get its own meter? I would want a couple of 220v for welding and compressor.

LED lighting and some skylight panels I suppose.

Thoughts?

[cool cat]

internet access, check on signal strength from the house. Multiple doors would be the way i would spec out my shop, vs one large single, provided at least one door is taller in case you need to bring in a tall vehicle.

[AnthonyS]

Coat the concrete floor before moving anything into the building and allow it to cure fully. For the compressor install hose reels. Also get retractable extension cord reels. Make a computer or paper model and figure out where you want to place cars, lift, storage, tool boxes, office, etc.

[TX_92_Notch]

I'd like to know the answer to the electric meter question as well. I know the city water meters come with all of the base fees applied to every meter, not just once per account.

We recently bought the property next door and it has a small garage with it's own power. I'm wondering if I can get that meter added to my account without paying double on all of the flat rate charges.

I added a 14x16 building on my property for my home office. It's roughly 80 feet from my house. I ran two 1.25" conduit from the garage out to the office - one for power and one for internet. The copper was the most expensive part. I ended up spending right at $700 to get power from my electrical panel in the garage out to the office (parts only). I did everything myself except connecting to the existing panel and I paid an electrician to do that part.

[TX_92_Notch]

What size shop are you planning? Mine is a 40x40 with two 10x10 doors at opposite ends, each centered on the wall. I absolutely *hate* the door setup. It makes it very hard to get stuff in an out without moving other things around.

If I were building a shop, I'd do a rectangle (like 35x50) and put three overhead doors on one long side with a man door where it makes sense. Then you can easily pull cars, boats, tractors, etc in an out without moving so much stuff around inside.

And make it tall enough for a lift. Mine is 9' at the two low sides of the roof and slopes up to roughly 13 feet at the ridge. It's not tall enough. I got a bunch of pallet racks when Raytheon moved their headquarters and the darned things are too tall. I'll have to cut them down before I set them up. I'd prefer 12' minimum at the low side and slope up from there.

Regarding the lift - check to see how thick the slab must be to support the lift. That could get you in trouble if it's not planned for now.

[Rick Modena]

I'll give my .02 cents. since helped build my buddies collision repair shop on two acres out in Wood county.

In his shop he ran power from a power pole that was adjacent to his property. He also trenched his own water from the FM road at the front of his property, he also dug and buried his own septic tank. After that once the concrete was poured on his 70x40 shop with three drains for water that lead to the soil outside the shop. He put the compressor outside and built a small shed around it, just to keep the rain and varmits out. He ran high pressure PVC pipe along the walls from the compressor and since its used for painting cars he invested in a nice 3 stage water trap. You're going to need that for air tools and lifts anyway, no need in skimping here.
He has two lifts, one on the middle of the shop and one 20ft. in front of the other door you don't want to be to close to that cold air in the winter. He has 4 roll up doors, one is a tall enough for a RV, not that he works on RV's but he actually did have one and it fit perfect. He has a metal shop and he spray foam insulated the entire shop, you can even imagine the sound a strong rain makes, its almost unbearable.
He's a cheap ass on certain things so he just did fluorescent shop lights, but I would have done LED's to save on the power bill. A couple of sodium lights outside with dusk to dawn on/off at either end light up both sides nicely and of course some security cameras to keep an eye on things.
He didn't coat the floors but he doesn't do too much mechanic work and he's very careful when he does so need on the extra cost for a shop that big.

[fitzwell]

Just bought a place with a 30x40 building out back. PO used it as the neighborhood "man cave". Many things to fix. As far as new, make sure you have plenty of outlets, and 220 on each end of the shop. Lights, i cant stress enough LED's. The 4' fixtures in the build area are 65K , rest of the lights are 8' 5K. Overkill? maybe, but i can damn sure see in there. If you coat the floor, do a single color. The little flecks may look cute, but God help you if you drop anything small & have to find it. Watch grade on the floor, if you mop, or wash something & do not have a drain, make sure it runs towards the door, not the back corner. If your layout/site allows, adjust for exposure & prevailing winds.

[bubbaearl]

do not let them build a 2 in 12 pitch roof . go at least 4 in 12 .
cant have too many lights . outlets are good but you will work off an extension cord no mater what .
coated floors are pretty and slick as hell when wet . sprinkles suck .
skylights sweat so put them at the top of walls .
more doors the better . covered car port is golden .

[shumpertdavid]

Look into the pole barn style builds to reduce building cost. It's going to have a 50 year life span, it looks like a metal shop on the exterior, and it makes adding brackets and anything you want to the inner framework easy with a cordless impact and lag bolts. I friend recently did a 40 x 60 I believe and the savings from a I-beam building allowed him to outfit the inside better and spend the money in other areas. Aside from that, all the other advice is spot on.

As for electrical, it's going to likely depend on the size of the service feeding your house now. I'd consult an electrician if you know one and get his opinion or a couple of them. Code regulations and city requirements may play a role in the electrical as well depending on where you live.

Aside from all that, if you think 30x40 is the right size, do 30x50, etc. It won't be big enough when it's all said and done. If you are planning on 4 project cars in one shop and working room, tool boxes, equipment, etc then I'd want at least a 40x60. I'd have 3 doors on my main side and possibly 1 on the back side depending on how your yard is set up. A door on the breeze side for summer time is nice to be able to allow airflow. It wouldn't have to be a huge door, just enough to keep airflow.

[CyaNide]

I had a 30’x50’ put in with three 10’ doors and figured that would be plenty. Of course I filled it up. I did have the builder pour extra concrete footings for a 4 post lift which I haven’t purchased yet. I have 5 cars in there and lots of benches and tools. Gets a little tight when more than one, like me, torn apart and not moveable. A carport is something I would like to add in the future. Also put in more electrical than you will need. That is what I did. You are never far from electrical power. One last thing is lighting. Led lights were not out when I put my lighting in. I have fluorescent tubes which are ok, but I am still adding lights because of dark areas. I am changing them over as the ballasts go out and they are much better.

CN

[bubbaearl]

i used 30amp plugs. i have a good 100 ft 4 plug extension cord that works great . heavy wire inside old air hose .

[txstangnut]

I am in the building process right now. I can tell you right up front it will cost more than you think.

That being said I am building a 30x60 with 16ft sidewalls. 2 12x14 roll up doors and one walk door.

I also had a 12x30 porch and a 12x30 storage area.

Total slab is 42x60 5 inches thick 3500psi.

As far as electricity I am having 100 amp split from the house to go out there.

If you run a new meter you may get charged small commercial rates.

Mine will be spray foamed for insulation and led lights.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[HarrisonTX]

As far as the electrical I just moved into a spot with a shop. The shop is fed off its own meter currently. To me this is nonsense. On Monday I mounted a new panel on the back of my house fed from my house meter base. This panel will soon feed the shop and all be under one meter and one electric bill.

Fuck paying 2 delivery and meter charges to the same address.

[mardyn]

Fuck paying 2 delivery and meter charges to the same address.

If you're close enough, definitely feed the power off your existing meter
to avoid having two separate services.

I tired to set it up that way at my shop/home but at 400' they're too far apart.

Also... my 10' tall doors have been adequate for everything until I need to put my bucket truck inside... it's about 10'6" tall so that now has me longing for at least one 12' door.

mardyn

[Gasser64]

Subscribed I'll need to read this in a few years.